


Cookie Heist

by chocolatecatcupcakecheese



Series: The Forge of Worlds [3]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 21:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20297860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocolatecatcupcakecheese/pseuds/chocolatecatcupcakecheese
Summary: Suzume steals something and has to dispose of the evidence.For Modern Character In Thedas Challenge Week 2019Day 5:ThirstyTasty Thursday





	Cookie Heist

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place rather late in TFOW, midway through the Inquisition arc... Which, at my current rate of posting, is a while away. So here's a tasty morsel I've been sitting on. Enjoy!

I opened the door of the rotunda. Josephine was onto me, I knew. Solas was sitting at the desk in the center. Excellent. I had a foolproof plan.

I approached at speed and shushed his polite greeting past the crumbs in my mouth. I plopped the plate of cookies into his lap, yanked my hair out of its ponytail, grabbed his hand and set it on my waist, then leaned in close and let my hair fall to the side, obscuring both of our faces. I gripped his chin, pulled his face toward me, and crammed the other half of the cookie I was munching into his mouth, silencing his questions before they could really begin. I rested my hands on his shoulders and waited. I could hear the click of Josephine’s heels on the tile come closer as she stalked across the great hall with purpose.

The door opened. Solas’ hand came up and pushed the rest of the cookie into his mouth. I looked directly into his eyes, grey in the dim light, and winked. Solas smirked back, munching the cookie behind the curtain of my hair. He made a soft little hum of pleasure. I stifled a manic laugh which would only serve to reveal my guilt. We both likely resembled a pair of chipmunks.

“Oh! Please excuse me, Inquisitor, I—“ Josephine stopped and cleared her throat. “If you have a moment.”

“I’d say not,” Varric piped, peering into the room behind her, the peanut gallery.

I swallowed, suppressed another manic chuckle that shook my entire body, and stood straight, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. “I thought I was free for the day, Josephine,” I said, and turned to face her utterly crumb-free. Her face was slightly flushed. Solas’ hand lingered on my waist, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. I covered his fingers with mine.

“Oh! You are. I apologize for interrupting your… leisure time.” The pause in the middle of the sentence was nearly unnoticeable. “I merely thought…” she trailed off. “I had a plate of cinnamon tea-biscuits made for tea with the Comte.”

_“Had_ a plate?” She nodded. “Is this Comte the one you don’t like?” Another nod. “Aren’t those the cookies Yuki likes?” Josephine’s lips thinned. I smirked. “Ask Yuki.”

Her gaze turned contemplative. “I believe I shall,” she said, and turned on her heel, closing the rotunda door behind her.

Misdirection achieved. I spared a moment of guilt for sending an irate Ambassador at my poor sister who had done nothing wrong. This time. I turned back to Solas, grinning wide.

“So, my accomplice. If you carry on this charade and come along elsewhere with me, you can help me polish off these purloined pastries.”

He took another from the plate and chewed slowly. He made a considering sound. “Deal,” he agreed at length, and withdrew his hand from my waist.

I blinked and drew back. I’d forgotten his hand was there. “Nice. Hopefully Cullen stopped for lunch and isn’t in his office yet. We’ll go that way.”

We walked arm in arm down the causeway, and I cradled the warm, rune-engraved plate between us, keeping it hidden from view of the Keep, hoping that no one was looking up to catch us. I poked my head into Cullen’s office. He was already back at his desk. Damn.

“Inquisitor,” he greeted, bland and polite. The standard white bread greeting.

“Heeey, Cullen,” I said brightly. “Do you like sweet things?”

He raised a single brow. “On occasion.”

I opened the door the rest of the way and pulled Solas in after me. I handed him the plate and lifted a single cookie from it. I stepped up to the desk and leaned in, holding it under Cullen’s nose. He inhaled.

“This is a bribe,” I enunciated clearly.

Cullen smirked, and the movement stretched the scar on his lip, showing the pale line of it more clearly in the flickering firelight. He looked suddenly incredibly young, as though the worries had been lifted from him. “And what do you expect in return?” he asked, tilting his head.

I pointed toward the tavern. “Solas and I went that way. We were carrying no plates of pastries.”

Cullen grinned. “That sounds reasonable.” He took the cookie and bit into it. “Mmm,” he groaned, and sat back in his chair. “Quite reasonable.” He waved us off. I pulled Solas through the opposite door. We made our way arm in arm to the corner of the outermost parapet. I set the plate on the slab of frigid stone and sat at an angle which obscured it from either approach, pulling my knees up to my chest for warmth. Solas settled in at a right angle to me and took another cookie.

“A masterful heist,” he commended. “But there is now an uneven number of cookies between us.”

I frowned, considering. “We can split number seven in half.” I took a cookie and munched, considering. “Oh!” I said. “But Josephine will likely catch me returning the plate to the kitchen.”

He chuckled. “At that point it will be too late.”

I gasped, realizing. “Cole!” I called, pushing out my desire for his presence, casting my intent outward like a net.

It took him a few minutes, during which we munched in companionable silence. Then Cole didn’t so much appear as reveal himself, as if he’d always been perched on the crenel behind me. I unfolded my legs and held up one of the two remaining cookies. Solas took the other, nibbling away at it like a dainty highborn lady at one of my grandma's tea parties. “Would you return this plate to the kitchens unseen by anyone?”

Cole nodded, his eyes fixed on the little pastry in my hand. “I’ve never had a cookie.”

“You get this one in return.” I waved it a little under his nose.

Cole leaned down and delicately took a bite directly from the cookie in my hand. The movement of his neck reminded me somehow of a water bird reaching down to pluck something out of the reeds. “It’s sweet. Like the laugh of the lady in the field of sugarcane, sharing a stalk with someone she loves, smiles sweeter than the summer day.” Cole tilted his head and took the cookie from me with cold fingers. “Is it sweet because of the memories in the sugar?”

“Sugar is sweet on its own,” I said, and then paused, considering. “But other things are sweet too, and might make it better.”

“Like kisses, and victory, and shared smiles,” Cole agreed. “I will take the plate.” He lifted it carefully from my hands.

“Thank you, Cole.”

“You are welcome.” Cole’s presence disappeared, as did any incriminating evidence. I held my breath, waiting. In the distance, I heard the supply door to the kitchens creak.

I grinned. “Ha! The perfect crime!” I cackled, rocking back and forth, my gleefulness overflowing.

Solas chuckled and licked his fingers one by one. I paused to watch, entranced by the movement, until I realized I was looking. Then I tilted my head back and watched the wisps of cloud drift across the sky.

Beside me, Solas sighed. I tilted my head back round, not lifting it from the stone, and looked at him. His chin was tilted up too, his gaze on the clouds above, his legs stretched out straight before him. “Thank you for the most welcome distraction, Inquisitor.” He sighed again and his brow furrowed. “I must get back to work,” he added, in tones of one who would prefer not to.

“Ehhhhh, stay a little longer, Solas.” I considered him a little longer, then turned my gaze back to the sky. “And, honestly, you can toss the formalities. We did crimes together! Call me Suzume.”

He huffed a laugh. “Suzume, then. Thank you.”

“You’re super welcome, Solas.”

We sat and watched the clouds drift by for just a little longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Much love and 500 musical bongo cats to the MCIT Discord.


End file.
